


Suburban Dad AU

by Minhoandthebabes



Category: SHINee
Genre: Domestic, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Suburban AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25203196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minhoandthebabes/pseuds/Minhoandthebabes
Summary: This was one of the biggest fics I've written and posted to Tumblr and I've decided to upload it here! If it gets enough traction I might add a few chapters as well ^^ I hope you enjoy it!This series is about two single suburban dads finding their way.
Relationships: Choi Minho/Kim Kibum | Key
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Intro

# 1

Jonghyun nervously sat down while the choir director was taking attendance. Two boys with striking similarities entered the room quickly and sat on either side of him, catching their breath.

“Jinki?” The teacher called, and the boy to the left of him raised his hand, “Onew?” The boy to the right called out, “here!”

There were a few more names called until Jonghyun heard his own, raising his own hand to show he was there. Once the teacher finished, she had everyone introduce themselves to the student next to them as an “icebreaker.”

Jonghyun turned to his left, “Uh, hi, I’m Jonghyun.” He waved awkwardly.

“I’m Onew,” The kid smiled brightly.

Jonghyun then turned to his right, “I’m Jonghyun.” 

“I’m Onew,” The kid smiled, bizarrely like the one before, and wait, Onew?

“Hey wait, you’re-” Before Jonghyun could figure out what was going on, the teacher stopped all discussions.

“Alright, before we place you into sections, I’d like us to just sing a simple scale.”

The choir sang together awkwardly, their voices not mingling quite right. The teacher had a look on her face of concern, realising just how much work she had ahead of her. She stopped the choir, and moved on to having “auditions.” Everyone would sing a scale individually in the next room so she could separate them into their proper sections.

As kids lined up, Jonghyun sat with his hands in his lap, waiting for something to happen. The kids that were sitting next to him stood in front and put their faces side by side, looking Jonghyun in the eyes.

“Which one do you think is Jinki?” They asked, watching as Jonghyun’s eyes darted between the two.

“Um, you?” he pointed to the one on the left.

“Nope, wrong,” the one on the right grinned, “I’m Jinki, and this is Onew. We’re twins!”

“Do you wanna be friends?” Onew asked, poking Jonghyun in the side.

“Um, sure,” He laughed.

“Jonghyun?” The teacher called, “we’re almost done with the boys.”

He nodded and stood, bringing Jinki and Onew with him. 

* * *

Minho stood outside the school, ready to pick up his son. While he was waiting, someone stepped up next to him, talking avidly at the phone. He glanced at man who was slightly shorter than him. His heart raced when he noticed how devilishly handsome the man was. The man’s hand rested on his hip as he gabbed on about something involving Armani. Minho wondered where he had heard that name before. Perhaps it was in one of the magazines his wife used to get.

He shook the memory from his head, and decided to steal glances of the man next to him. His legs weren’t very long, but they were thin, and looked powerful, especially in the thighs. He followed the man’s body line, amazed by how fashionable he was. Minho was just wearing a simple sweater and slacks, but the man next to him, he was something else. He had a pair of black skinny jeans that clung to his thighs, and a long white shirt that flowed in the wind. It was different from what Minho normally saw, but looked amazing on the man next to him.

“Hold on, I have to go, Jinki and Onew are done. I’ll call you back so we can talk about those scarves, okay?” There was confirmation from the other side and the man hung up. The sound of the kids exiting the school pulled Minho out of his trance.

“Daddy!!” Jonghyun cried, running into Minho and practically knocking him over.

“Jjongie!” Minho lifted Jonghyun into the air before setting him down, “How was your first day of choir?”

“Good!” Jonghyun grinned, “I was put into the tenor section, which means I get to sit with my friends Onew and Jinki!”

“Ooo you made friends?” Minho asked, ruffling Jonghyun’s bangs.

Jonghyun looked up smiling, “Yeah, they’re really funny.” He heard someone call his name from behind, and turned to see Jinki and Onew, hand in hand. Jonghyun ran up to meet with them in the jumble of kids looking for their parents.

“Jonghyun!” They called in unison before Jinki continued, “Is that your dad?”

“Yeah,” He walked back towards Minho, leading Jinki and Onew.

“He’s really tall,” Onew commented, looking up.

“I know, I hope I’m tall like him someday.” Jonghyun looked expectant, clasping his hands together.

“Daddy!” Onew and Jinki screamed, recognising the man who stood close to Minho.

“Bye guys! I’ll see you tomorrow!” Jonghyun waved, and the others waved back.

* * *

Jonghyun and Minho walked hand in hand back to Minho’s car while Jonghyun talked on and on, forgetting he had to breathe. Minho started the car, and made his way home, while Jonghyun comtinued.

“So was that guy by me Jinki and Onew’s dad?”

Minho asked when Jonghyun finally stopped gushing about his day.

“Yeah, they say he’s alone, like you,” Jonghyun played with the bottom of his shorts, “but he’s not sad, he’s really happy, and he works a lot. But that’s all they said about him. Did I tell you they have two dogs at their house??” Jonghyun reminded Minho for the third time.

* * *

Every day after choir, Minho would be told about Jinki and Onew. Until one day, Jonghyun handed him a post-it note with numbers scrawled across it.

“What’s this?” He asked, turning on the car.

“It’s Kibum’s-”

“Jonghyun, buckle your seatbelt,” Minho reminded him, interrupting him briefly.

“It’s Kibum’s number, Jinki and Onew’s dad,” Jonghyun explained while he pulled the buckle across his chest.

Minho raised and eyebrow, “Oh really?”

“Yeah, they asked for it so that we could hang out this weekend!” Jonghyun bounced happily in his seat, “So can we??”

Minho smiled, “We’ll see. I’ll call their dad and see what they’re up to and if it works with my schedule, okay?”

The two got home after Jonghyun told a story about a particularly funny thing that happened in class that day. Minho relieved the “nanny” for the day and thanked her for her services. Jonghyun ran into the living room, knocking down Taemin’s tower of blocks and making his little brother cry.

“Jonghyun, be nice to your brother!”

“Sorry dad!” Jonghyun called back, sitting next to Taemin, “Come on, let’s build the tower together, okay?” Taemin sniffed and nodded, setting a block back to begin the tower again.

Minho dialed the number on the phone. He would be lying if he said he didn’t feel butterflies in his stomach. The man he saw at the entrance to the school looked too impossibly attractive to be a dad. “Hello?” A deep voice from the other line entered Minho’s ear, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Hey, this is Jonghyun’s dad, am I talking with Kibum?”

“Ah yes! I heard my boys were planning on hanging out.” 

“Yes, so when are you free?” he hit himself for his little freudian slip, “I mean, when are they free?”

“Well we could do tomorrow after school? It is friday after all. I could pick them up after choir and you could- JINKI YOU GET BACK HERE!” There was a pause, before Kibum quietly addressed the boy, “Jinki, did you get into my work room?”

Another small pause where Minho could just make out Jinki’s voice, “Well, Onew got in, but I wanted to borrow these scissors. It’s for my school project, I swear!”

“Jinki, these are special scissors. They’re only supposed to be used with fabric. When you use them with paper, it dulls the blade, Understand?” There was a pause and Kibum continued, “Now, close up my work room. I don’t want you playing around in there, there could be pins on the floor, and it would hurt if you stepped on them, okay?” After a short sigh, Kibum continued, “Any way, they would come back here and hang out for a bit, and then you can pick up Jonghyun at whatever time is good for you.”

“Sounds good to me!” Minho smiled, “Maybe I’ll pick him up before dinner? That way you won’t have to feed him.”

“Oh feeding him isn’t too much trouble. I’m pretty good at cooking, if I say so myself.”

“Then that’s perfect. Is this a cell number? You can just text me when you’re done, and I’ll come get him.”

“Yes, this is my cell number. Is Jonghyun allergic to anything?”

“Not that I know of.”

“That’s perfect! Okay, I’ll see you on friday.”

“Yeah, see you.”

The line went dead, and Minho was proud of himself for not freaking out. It was cute how Kibum scolded his kids, and he was curious what that work room was used for. “oh, Jonghyun!” He called, and his son was next to him in a flash.

“Yes?”

“Tomorrow, you’re going home with Jinki and Onew’s dad! You’ll get to play and he’s going to cook for you, how does that sound?”

“Yay!” He bounced up and down with excitement.

“But, that means you have to finish as much homework as you can tonight.”

Jonghyun groaned, but went to his room anyway.

As Minho was driving Jonghyun to school the next day, the kid was practically bouncing off the walls.

“I wonder if they have video games at their house. Maybe we can play minecraft!”

“I don’t know about that Jjongie, but be nice to them okay? Remember to say your pleases and thank you’s”

“Yes dad,” Jonghyun rolled his eyes, “It’s not like I haven’t had friends before.”

“Okay, well,” The drove up to the school, “Have fun tonight, okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tonight!” Jonghyun waved before he skipped into the building, joining the other students.

Minho sighed, Jonghyun already looked so grown up, and surprisingly like his mother. He had brief memories of the short woman he had “fallen in love with,” but most of them were tarnished by how the relationship had ended. He sighed, turning up the music to help him keep his mind off of things as he drove into work.

* * *

Halfway through Minho’s training, he realised he hadn’t asked for Kibum’s address. He pulled himself up from the yoga mat he was on, his coach insisted he become “more flexible” before their next match, and grabbed his cellphone.

> Minho: Hey, sorry for the message, but what’s your address? I don’t want to drive around town looking for you :P

He went back down on the mat to resume the same position, stretching his back at an awkward angle. As soon as he was at peace with stretching himself, his phone alerted him of an incoming text. “Are you kidding me.”

> Kibum: 22452 Crimson Lane. I’m the red brick house with the garden in front.  
>  Minho: Okay thanks!

Kibum read the message but didn’t respond, so Minho went back to his work.

* * *

At about 7:00, Minho received a text.

Kibum: We’re sitting down to dinner now, you can come pick up Jonghyun soon.

Minho: Okay, sounds good.

Minho packed Taemin into his car seat, and followed his phone to Kibum’s house. The drive was surprisingly short. Seeing as the house was only a few blocks away from his own. When he arrived, his nose was filled with the smell of fresh italian food, wafting from the open windows of the two story house.

After taking Taemin out of the car, Minho walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. One of the kids Minho had met outside of the school, opened the front door, and grinned. “Come in!”

Minho raised an eyebrow, “Okay?”

He stepped forward, and Kibum was almost immediately at the door. What he was wearing today was more casual, yes still stunning, “Oh, you’re Jonghyun’s dad?” The tone of his voice was almost scathing. 

“Um, yeah?” Minho looked offended.

“Huh, come in,” he walked deep into the house. Everything was well decorated, and the whole place smelled of pasta and italian spices. Jonghyun was covered in red pasta sauce, sitting at the bar of the kitchen.

“Dad!” He cried, the food in his mouth making his voice sound muffled and distorted.

“There’s my little man!” He ruffled Jonghyun’s hair, “Thank you so much for doing this, I’m sure they had fun.”

Kibum had his arms crossed, “Yeah, it was nice.”

“You know, I don’t live too far from here. We could coordinate carpooling? It would definitely help with my schedule,” Minho smiled, trying to be cordial when Kibum didn’t seem to want anything to do with him.

Kibum, raised an eyebrow, “You’re driving a bmw sports sedan for your kids?” He looked at Minho with judgement.

“Uhh, yeah?” He was almost offended. Minho loved his car, and more importantly, he loved how safe it was, “I don’t want to be seen driving the mom mobile you have.”

“I love my honda crv, thank you very much!” Kibum stood his ground.

Kibum was rubbing Minho the wrong way, and he was fed up, “Okay, well sorry I wanted our kids to hang out. We’ll just go then.”

Minho held his hand out, and Jonghyun took it. Meanwhile, Taemin grabbed Minho’s collar, feeling the tension in the room, “I’ll see you later, Jinki and you too Onew.”

“Yes, I’m sure you two will have fun playing again later,” Minho smiled down at the kids, before he looked up to Kibum, “and maybe we can sort something out.”

“Okay, see you later,” Kibum practically pushed them out of the door.

“Well, that was interesting,” Minho said, gripping the steering wheel, “Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah, but Jinki said we weren’t allowed to play video games. Kibum doesn’t have any in the house, so we just made up games instead, but it was still fun,” Jonghyun smiled happily.

* * *

On sunday, Minho received a text from Kibum.

> Kibum: You pick up, I’ll drop off.  
>  Minho: What time should I have Jonghyun be ready by?

There was a pause, and Minho imagined Kibum figuring out what time would be best.

> Kibum: 8:30  
>  Minho: okay

* * *

The next morning, Kibum drove up at 8:30, almost on the dot. Jonghyun hurried out of the house, excited to see his friends with a backpack and lunch bag in hand. Minho waved from the front door, but Kibum didn’t seem to see him. He closed the door behind him and huffed. Taemin soon came toddling out of Minho’s room, and looked down from the upper hallway.

“Daddy,” he said, rubbing his eyes, “I had a bad dream.”

“Oh my little Taeminnie,” He hurried up the stairs pulled Taemin up into his arms, giving the younger a kiss on the cheek, “Are you still tired? Do you want to go nap?”

Taemin nodded, yawning. Minho carried him to the big king-sized bed that sat in the middle of his room. It was covered in cushions and stuffed animals, all Taemin’s of course. Minho flopped onto the bed and Taemin curled into his daddy’s side, sucking his thumb as he fell asleep again.

  
Originally Posted 4 years ago


	2. The Zoo

# 2

Minho opened the mailbox with Taemin at his hip, informing his dad on the most recent episode of Sesame Street.

“They had the aveggies, and captain cauliflower and the cookie monster was the hulk!” He giggled cutely, and Minho couldn’t help but smile.

When they got back inside, Minho set Taemin on the counter and started looking through the mail, “Hey, Taeminnie, do you wanna see the pandas?”

“Panda?” Taemin asked.

“Yeah! They’re like big bears, but they pretty much just sit around and do nothing all day, like you!” Minho poked Taemin in the nose, making his son giggle with delight.

Minho’s phone alarm went off, making Taemin jump, “Oh! It’s time to pick up the boys, do you wanna come with me? I’ll let you look at the pictures of the panda’s” He held up the zoo brochure that caught his eye.

“Panda!” Taemin cheered. 

Minho buckled Taemin into his car seat and drove away from his house. Taemin talked to himself in the back seat, playing with the brochure Minho had handed him while he drove. As he was pulling into the school, Minho wondered what Kibum would give him crap for this time. Last time it was that he was there too late, the next he was too early. Kibum argued he was driving too fast, but he couldn’t have been. The kids were just released early that day.

Jonghyun knocked on the window of the passenger seat, and Minho unlocked the doors, allowing him and his friends to enter.

“Hey, how was choir?” Minho asked, waiting for everyone to buckle.

“Our director got mad again,” Jinki said, struggling to get the buckle around himself .

“but it wasn’t at us this time,” Onew smiled.

Minho sighed, “You guys better be careful.”

“Did you have a good day Taeminnie?” Jonghyun asked, looking back at his little brother.

“Pandas!” Taemin cried, “I wanna see pandas!”

Jonghyun pulled the brochure from Taemin’s hands, much to the dismay of the younger. “There’s a new panda exhibit at the zoo?” Jonghyun read through the advertisement, “Can we go dad?”

“We wanna go too!” Jinki and Onew chimed from the back.

Minho laughed, “Okay, I’ll ask your dad if we can go this weekend, okay?”

They continued along while Jinki avidly explained why their director got mad.

Minho pulled up in front of Kibum’s house, and parked, opening the windows. The twins left, and Kibum walked out to greet them. He was wearing a tanktop and shorts that exposed a little more than Minho could handle.

“I don’t understand how you get here so fast,” Kibum sighed, “You better be careful when you drive with my kids.”

Minho scoffed, “I’m always safe when I drive, and this has to be one of the safest cars in its class”

Kibum rolled his eyes, “Okay, whatever you say.”

“There’s a new panda exhibit at the zoo, and I was talking about going with Jonghyun this Saturday. Could your boys join us?”

Kibum squat so he was at eye level with his son’s, “Is this true?”

“Yeah! There are gonna be pandas, and we can go see the snakes!” Jinki looked excited.

“And I want to go to the petting zoo!” Onew smiled in the way Kibum just couldn’t resist.

Kibum nodded, “Let’s go then,” He stood up and addressed Minho, “Okay, they can go to the zoo, but I’m coming with you.”

“Oh, uh, okay,” Minho looked surprised that Kibum wanted to go. For how much their kids had spent time together, the two of them hadn’t interacted too much, apart from snide comments and judgemental looks. “I’ll come on Saturday to pick everyone up.”

“Sounds good, see you then.”

Kibum waved as Minho backed out of the driveway. On the short drive home, Minho spaced out, thinking about Saturday. Why did Kibum want to go? It’s not like He needed help paying for anything. Just having the boys by themselves was stressful enough, but having Kibum there would just add to his nerves. He had never been so scared of screwing up with someone else’s kids, but Kibum seemed to worry too much about his kids, whereas Minho would rather let Jonghyun and Taemin do what they want, and learn from the consequences.

“Hey dad?” Jonghyun pulled Minho out of his thoughts, “Why aren’t you and Kibum friends?”

“Um,” Minho thought about how to explain it, “Well, he- he doesn’t get along with me. I honestly don’t think he likes me very much.“

Jonghyun frowned, "Okay.”

* * *

Minho drove to Kibum’s house early Saturday morning. Regardless of how tired Jonghyun was, he didn’t stop talking. “Can we see the lions? and the tigers? and the bears?”

“Oh my!” Minho grinned.

“What?” Jonghyun asked.

“Nothing.” Minho chuckled at his own joke as he parked in front of Kibum’s house.

He rang Kibum’s doorbell once, and the door soon flung open. Jinki, or was it Onew, opened it quickly.

“Jonghyun!” He cried, pouncing his friend.

“Onew!” Jonghyun cried, hugging him tightly, “Where’s Jinki?”

“He’s helping my dad get ready,” Onew explained.

Minho looked a little concerned, “Why would he need help?”

“Dad likes to.. Accessorize.”

Accessories? for the zoo? Minho laughed to himself, Kibum went a little overboard a lot. He set Taemin down and waited for Kibum to arrive while the boys went off to play some video game on Jonghyun’s phone.

Kibum walked down the stairs in the entryway. He was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a soft-looking shirt that read “I don’t speak Italian but I speak Moschino.” The only accessories Minho could see was a simple dinosaur necklace and a pair of thick-rimmed glasses he wasn’t expecting. Kibum may be an ass, but in those glasses, Minho was tempted to pin him down right then and there. He blushed at the thought before he averted his eyes.

“So I was thinking of taking the train,” Minho mumbled, still looking away.

Kibum walked around to meet Minho’s eyes, “That’s fine by me, but how will we get there?”

“It seems ridiculous to take two cars, so how about we just take mine?”

“Minho, there are six of us?”

Minho shrugged, “Taemin can sit in Jonghyun’s lap, it’s not that far away.”

Kibum looked horrified, “Do you know how dangerous that is? Have you ever done that before? have you ever done that with my kids? I think it’s illegal too!” He continued talking, asking questions, and Minho spaced out listening, he felt Taemin’s grip tighten on his leg, and the four-year-old held close to Minho’s side

“Kibum, Kibum stop, I’ve never done that with your kids in the car, because when I pick them up there’s a perfect amount of people in the car. Don’t worry, it’s seriously only what, 5 blocks away? We’ll be fine!”

“No, I’m not endangering your kids like that. I’ll just drive too, and if all the boys want to be in the same car, that’s fine by me. I’ll drive alone.”

Minho nodded, “Fine, if you really want to.”

Kibum left Minho to get something from deep within the house. Minho picked up Taemin and kissed him on the cheek, “It’s okay baby Taeminnie, we were just talking.”

“I don’t like it,” Taemin said, very quietly, “I don’t like yelling.”

Minho kissed him again, “We won’t yell then. It was just a little argument, okay? Nothing’s wrong.”

* * *

After all the boys were packed into the car, they drove off to catch the 9:30 train. The train ride itself was uneventful. Minho sat, letting Jonghyun do what he wanted and Taemin slept in his stroller, while Kibum was constantly nagging. “Jinki sit down, you’re bothering the man behind us,” he would bark, “Onew, don’t lick the glass! You have no idea who’s touched that.”

Minho chuckled to himself, while Kibum seemed to be in control of his life, he didn’t seem to be able to control his kids very well. The whole train ride Minho hadn’t said a single word to Jonghyun, and his son managed to behave himself. Minho would be lying if he said his ex-wife didn’t have anything to do with it.

The train dropped them off in the center of the city. They were granted the fun task of finding the fastest way to the zoo. Minho looked at his phone for a moment.

“Um, I think it would be fastest if we went straight north and then we turn towards the lake.”

Kibum looked over Minho’s shoulder, “Why don’t we just take the train? It’ll be faster and we’ll be out of the sun.”

Minho shook his head, “I don’t want to take the train. I know it’s cheap, but it’s better for you if you just walk.”

“But, it’s faster! We’re already here at 10 it’s going to be lunch time soon. I don’t want to get there after lunch.”

“Kibum, it’s not going to take two hours to get there. It’ll take half an hour, at most.”

* * *

Almost an hour later, they arrive at the entrance to the zoo. Minho smiled, proud of himself for his decision.

“There’s no way we’re doing that again,” Kibum looked at Minho with his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed.

Minho sighed, “I asked if you wanted me to carry your bag earlier, but you insisted on keeping it. I offered to buy you a water bottle, and you refused. You’re so stubborn.”

Kibum ignored Minho’s comments, and walked into the zoo, following Jinki, Onew, and Jonghyun as they ran to the first exhibit they set their eyes on.

Minho and Kibum were dealing with Taemin while the other boys ran ahead, hoping to see the bats further down.

“Don’t leave this building,” Kibum called after them as he hung back to help Minho.

* * *

In the darkness of the bat exhibit, Jonghyun finally was able to talk freely with Onew and Jinki.

“What’s your dad’s deal?” Jonghyun asked, “Why does he hate my dad so much?”

Jinki laughed, “He doesn’t hate your dad.”

“It’s quite the opposite,” Onew added.

“Dad doesn’t think we listen while he talks on the phone, but without video games and stuff, sometimes there’s nothing better to do,” Jinki explained. He jumped up to sit on the railing of the exhibit so he could swing his legs.

Onew nodded in agreement, “We heard him talking with our aunt, and he kept saying stuff like,” Onew put his hands up to his face with worry, and changed his voice to attempt to mimic Kibum’s, “‘I can’t like him,’ and, ‘it’s been too soon since the accident’”

Jinki laughed, “Dad’s such a liar, the accident happened before we were around, or if it did, we were just really young.”

“The point is, neither of us remember how our other dad died, but it was a long time ago. Dad’s just worried,” Onew smiled. 

“Did you see that?” Jinki asked, looking just behind Jonghyun’s head, hoping to pull the conversation away from the dark topic.

“See what?” Jonghyun looked into the glass.

“I think- Oh my god, I think I saw a vampire bat, returning from feeding.”

Jonghyun punched JInki in the arm, “Shut up, you’re such a liar.”

Jinki grinned, “I know, but it’s fun to mess with you.”

* * *

“Let’s have some lunch,” Kibum suggested as they left the dark exhibit.

“Sounds good to me,” Minho smiled, and the group of them walked towards the nearest food cart.

“Onew, Jinki, come with me.” Kibum offered his hands to his sons, walking them over to a picnic table.

Minho joined them moments later with three hot dogs and a bag of chips. Jonghyun joined Onew and JInki on their bench, and Minho pulled Taemin out of his stroller, setting him on his lap.

“Taeminnie, do you want some hot dog?” Taemin smiled, grabbing for the meat in front of him. “No no! not that one! It has spicy things on it.”

“Are you seriously giving your kids hot dogs?” Kibum asked, his face judgemental.

Minho sighed, “Are you seriously giving me a hard time about how I feed my kids?” Taemin, clenched his fist around his fork anxiously.

Kibum looked angry, and his voice raised a notch, “sorry I’m trying to help you do what’s best for them.”

Minho burst out laughing, “Is that what this is about, you’re trying to do what’s best for my kids?”

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter,” Kibum stood up in a huff, “I have to go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.”

Minho kissed the back of Taemin’s head, “It’s okay Taeminnie, do you want some apple sauce? I got some just for you.” Taemin looked up, still a little wary, but nodded.

Meanwhile, across the table, Jonghyun had switched lunches with Jinki because, as Jonghyun put it, “bento boxes are so much cooler than Chicago dogs!”

Minho grinned, and wondered how Kibum would react this time. The other man was so stubborn about some of these things, Minho couldn’t help but laugh. He noticed it in the way Kibum would adjust to certain situations. For example, while Kibum didn’t want to walk to the zoo, he soldiered on, and insisted he make it without help. It was cute, but not exactly the best way to go about doing things.

“Oh dad! I figured out why you and Kibum aren’t friends!” Jonghyun said, through mouthfulls of rice.

Minho looked confused, “Oh. how do you know that?”

“Shh,” Jinki, hushed Jonghyun before he could respond as Kibum walked up.

“Okay, who wants to see these pandas?” Kibum asked, ignoring the strange look he was getting from Minho. Kibum bent down, “Taeminnie, can I carry you to see the pandas?”

Taemin looked to Minho and then back to Kibum before he nodded, allowing the other to pick him up.

Minho liked the freedom of not having to deal with Taemin as they walked towards the new exhibit.

* * *

For how new the exhibit was, there wasn’t much of a line. Taemin, had fallen asleep on Kibum’s shoulder, sucking his thumb as he was curled into Kibum’s neck

“Oh please let me take a picture,” Minho put his hands together as if he were begging. Kibum rolled his eyes, but he didn’t protest as Minho started snapping pictures.

They soon reached the front of the line, and the cashier asked for how many tickets.

“Six,” Minho said before Kibum could stop him.

“What are you doing paying for all of us! There are more of us than there are of you.”

Minho laughed, “No there aren’t, there are three of us, and three of you, remember, Taemin is my child?”

Kibum frowned, “Still, Taemin get’s in for free because he’s under 10.”

“I didn’t really notice,” Minho shrugged, still smiling.

The cashier took Minho’s credit card and handed him 6 tickets, smiling, “You’re a cute couple,” She said, winking.

“No, no, no,” Kibum and Minho said almost in unison.

“We’re just.. our kids are friends!” Kibum went on to explain.

Minho looked at Kibum to notice a dusting of pink on his cheeks, and he felt his own face burn up. “Let’s go see the pandas.”

They entered the exhibit, greeted with the smell of bamboo and manure. Minho poked Taemin on the nose, “Taeminnie.” He whispered close to Kibum’s neck, his voice soft and delicate. He noticed the older man stiffen with the proximity, “Taeminnie, do you want to see pandas?” He brought his head closer and kissed Taemin’s cheek, waking the four year old.

Minho took Taemin into his arms and brought him to the glass. Taemin pointed, “Daddy look! It’s the pandas from the picture!”

Minho nodded, “Yup! Look, do you see what he’s eating? It’s bamboo!” He looked back and noticed Kibum fanning himself and trying to catch his breath.

“Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine,” He lied, “I think the smell is getting to me. I’ll step out.”

Minho’s hand grabbed Kibum’s wrist, stopping him in his tracks. Kibum turned slowly, his cheeks red, “I’m sorry, but, your ticket was worth more than a five second visit.” Kibum stood in shock for a moment. “If you try to leave again, I’m holding your hand the whole time we’re here.” Kibum pulled his wrist from Minho’s grasp and immediately went to stand with the kids.

Minho’s attention returned to Taemin. He picked up the four year old and had him stand on the railing, “Taeminnie? What do you think of the pandas?”

He looked beyond the glass with wonder, “Daddy, they’re so big!”

“Yup! It’s because they eat a lot of bamboo. That, and they don’t really exercise like your daddy does,” He grinned.

Taemin looked to Minho, his hand grabbing at Minho’s cheek to keep him balanced, “Daddy, you’re always exercising,” he laughed.

Minho moved Taemin to his hip, “That’s because it’s my job to.”

Jonghyun poked Minho in the side, “Did you see him? What’s he doing?” 

The panda’s paw was rubbing at his nose aggressively. “I think he’s itchy,” Minho laughed.

* * *

“Before we leave, how about we stop by the petting zoo? It’s on our way out anyway,” Minho offered.

Kibum looked wary, but his kids were eager to go, so he complied.

They walked through the park on their way to the petting zoo. Jonghyun, Jinki, and Onew walked ahead of Minho and Kibum, pointing at the giraffes as they walked by and poking fun at the elephants when they happened to notice one pooping.

They arrived at the petting zoo, and Jonghyun immediately ran to the small corral that held a few goats and a miniature pony. Minho took Taemin out of his stroller, and carried him in to see the docile creatures. Jinki, Onew, and Jonghyun decided it would be fun to try and trap one of the evasive chickens. Taemin watched for a moment before he asked to go down.

Minho set Taemin on the ground and watched as he approached a goat with hay in his hands. “Make sure you keep your hand flat Taeminnie. You don’t want him biting your fingers!” Taemin nodded and flattened his hand. The goat took the hay and licked Taemin’s hand, making the four year old giggle.

“Key!” Taemin cried, looking at Kibum, who was standing near the exit, “Key, do you see the goat?”

“Shh!” Minho looked at Taemin angrily, “Call him Mr. Kibum, and don’t ask him to do that.”

Kibum walked over anyway, as much as he didn’t want his shirt to be chewed by the animals, he had a soft spot for Taemin. “What is it Taeminnie?”

“Key, look!” Taemin picked up more hay and fed it to the same goat. He giggled with glee as it licked his hand a second time, “Now you try.” Taemin handed Kibum a bundle of hay, and Kibum willingly took it.

“Like this?” He asked, holding it out in his fist. 

“No no, daddy said to keep your hand flat,” Taemin pulled Kibum’s hand apart, and the goat walked over, noticing the hay. He took it, licking Kibum’s hand, and Taemin laughed, “See? He likes you!”

Minho watched the interaction, smiling. Kibum and Taemin were too cute together. He could tell now that Kibum liked being a dad.

* * *

They rode the subway back to the train station, and Kibum wouldn’t stop talking about how they should have gone that way last time.

On the train ride home, Onew, Jinki, and Jonghyun sat quietly talking with each other, while Minho and Kibum sat side by side. Taemin was in Minho’s lap, sleeping for most of the ride home with his hand clenched around Minho’s thumb. They sat in silence, and Minho closed his eyes for a moment, tired of the long day they had had. In his sleepy state, he felt something bump him in the shoulder and rest there. His eyes opened to see Kibum, fast asleep his head resting on Minho's shoulder. Minho blushed, but let Kibum stay. It had been a long day for all of them.

  
Originally Posted 4 years ago with 112 notes  



	3. Shopping

# 3

Minho slipped out of the shower after another intense workout, wiping his face with a free towel before he checked his phone. There were 10 new messages from Kibum, all spaced seconds apart

> Kibum: Minho  
>  Kibum: MINHO  
>  Kibum: CHOI MINHO  
>  Kibum: M  
>  Kibum: I  
>  Kibum: N  
>  Kibum: H  
>  Kibum: I  
>  Kibum: FUCK O  
>  Kibum: MINHOMINHOMINHOMINHOMINHOMINHOMINOHOMIONHIONIM

Minho had a moment of panic, why was Kibum so eager to get in contact with him, and more importantly, why was it so urgent?

Given the nature of the texts, Minho called Kibum in a worried state. There was only one ring before Kibum picked up.

“Damn, I was trying to see how many times I could write Minho before you answered.” 

Minho put his hand to the bridge of his nose, “What the hell Kibum, I was in the middle of work.”

“Sorry,” The voice said, unapologetically, “Are you done now?”

Minho rolled his eyes, “Yes Kibum, I’m done, what do you need?”

“I need a car ride. Mine’s in the shop all afternoon, and I need someone to drive me to the store so I can work.”

He sighed, “Was that really all this was about?”

“Yup, I called you because you’re close to me, so I wouldn’t be chewing up too much gas. I can pay you back really, I just need help getting to the store.”

Minho agreed to help, it would be interesting to see what Kibum needed, and if anything, it would be entertaining to spend time with him without the kids. He left, still in his workout clothes to meet Kibum

* * *

Kibum got in the car in a huff. His hair was tied up out of his face in a little ponytail atop his head. He looked Minho up and down, and Minho caught the other’s eyes lingering on his thighs before the returned to his face. “You know the fabric store just beyond the grocery store?” Minho sat and stared at him with a blank expression, “By the whole foods?” Minho just shrugged, “Uhh by the McDonald's!”

“Ah, yes!”

He backed out of the driveway, and Key continued talking, “So I was working, on this new dress, and I just thought, what the fuck am I doing?? I was making a circle skirt for this bodice that would benefit more with a knife pleat. Well anyway, the fabric I had was completely off, and I have to start over, but good news, the bodice actually works really well by itself, so why do I need to make a new skirt, when I can just create a whole line based off of this. I was originally working with knit, but I’ve realized that if I’m making a whole line off of this, I should start with a plaid, especially since we’re in the beginning of fall…”

Minho spaced out while Kibum talked, focusing most of his efforts on driving. His attention span had dwindled as soon as Kibum started using the foreign language. The fabric store would prove to be an interesting experience. He had no idea what he was doing, or what anything was, so he was hoping Kibum wasn’t expecting him to help. They were almost there when Kibum’s voice entered his conscious again.

“So, you know what your job is, right?”

“Um,” Minho looked to Kibum after he parked in front of the upscale fabric store.

Kibum rolled his eyes, “You weren’t paying attention at all?” They both exited the car, and Kibum led the way, “I need you to find a basic, black, stiff fabric I can use for interfacing.”

They entered the store, and Kibum disappeared, leaving Minho to find a fabric, for something he couldn’t quite remember, all he remembered is that it had to be black.

He walked through the sea of fabric. Everything must have been organized, but not in a way Minho would have done it. The colors were all mixed together, and it didn’t even look like there were similar fabrics with each other. Solids were next to stripes, and there were patterns intermixed with plaids. Nothing seemed to make sense. He walked down the aisles of fabric, looking for anything black. Kibum seemed like he would enjoy something soft and pretty looking, so Minho picked up a silky looking flowy black material and carried it around until he found Kibum in a row of zippers and buttons. In the time it took him to find one fabric, Kibum had already found 10. Two were tucked under his arm, and the rest were piled up in a cart.

“This is what you wanted, right?” Minho asked, holding out the fabric hopefully.

Kibum’s face fell, “What is this, chiffon?” He looked disappointed, “Well, at least you got the color right. If anything, I was looking for more of a cotton, or linen, or maybe even a wool, but not chiffon.” He sighed, “I need to look at more notions before I go to the cutting table. Go and look for the word linen. You can find the description of the fabric up here.” He pulled away the fabric that hung down loosely, and exposed a barcode that was labeled, “Black Glossy Chiffon.”

With the new information, Minho was confident he could find something closer to what Kibum was looking for. As he searched down the aisles, he realized there was a system, in fact, a very simple system. The fabrics were organized by style. The knits were all in one place, and the chiffon in another. He started to look logically. Instead of just checking for the color black, he would check for a label that had what he was looking for. “Linen,” he whispered, “linen, linen, linen.” He finally came across one, then two, and three linens and he knew he was in the right section.

He grinned, grabbing the first black he could find and ran back to Kibum, who was now waiting in a long line at the cutting table.

“Look!” He said proudly, holding out the black fabric.

Kibum’s face lit up, “You found it! It’s a little thinner than I’d like, but it will have to do.” 

The two waited in silence as Minho’s joy of seeing Kibum’s happy face dwindled. “So why’s your car in the shop?”

Kibum looked a little surprised Minho was making light conversation, but he took the bait, “Complications with the power steering. I was tired of doing it myself, and I thought today would be a perfect day to put it in, seeing as I have this big project in front of me. But then my creativity took over, and I needed to get to the store.” There was another pause, and Minho wasn’t sure how to fill it. They moved forward in silence and stood awkwardly, Minho at the side of the cart and Kibum steering it. Kibum fidgeted with one of the zippers before he finally blurted out, “Thank you, by the way.”

Minho raised an eyebrow, “It was nothing really. You needed a car, and I had a car. Even though it’s ‘unsafe’ and ‘irresponsible.’” Kibum punched Minho in the arm, but there was a bright smile on his face.

“Okay, after riding in the car, it’s a pretty nice car.” He paused, “but it’s still unsafe for your kids, you should be more careful when you drive.”

“Kibum, I’m always careful when I drive.” 

Minho noticed a smile creeping onto Kibum’s face again, but it was stopped when their number was called. Kibum stood at the counter, dictating the amount he needed of each fabric, and they left soon after.

The car ride home was inexplicably quiet until they returned to their subdivision.

“How did you do it?” Kibum asked, his voice soft and quiet.

“How did I do what?” Minho asked in the same delicate manner. 

Kibum looked out the window, “How did you manage to get custody of both of your kids? That’s unheard of. For the husband to end up with the kids, how did you do it?”

Minho parked in Kibum’s driveway and shut off the car, “She wanted nothing to do with me, and the kids? The kids were just another memory of me.”

Kibum turned to look Minho in the eyes. Minho’s eyes were dry, and focused, maintaining a serious demeanor. “How did it all end?”

Minho rested his head on his seat and sighed, “Do you really want to hear this?”

“Yes,” Kibum’s eyes, traced Minho’s profile while he spoke, taking in everything Minho had to share.

“I was stupid, I really was,” Minho laughed, “She was the first girl I held hands with, the first girl I kissed, the first girl I had sex with, and the girl I ended up marrying. When I first kissed her, I had butterflies in my stomach, probably from nerves, the second time I kissed her, I felt nothing. I assumed I was asexual, and continued to date her. She dictated everything in our relationship. If she wanted a kid, we tried for a kid. When she wanted sex, we had sex. Then, two years ago, someone else came into my life, and he was a man. I realized I wasn’t ace, I was actually gay.” He sighed. Openly stating it was still hard, no matter how much he wanted it not to be. “Taemin, poor baby, was only two, and I feel awful about it. She and I fought, especially when she found out about ‘him.’ I soon dumped him and tried to sort out our relationship, for the kids, you know? But one day, I woke up, and she was gone.”

Kibum sniffed, and Minho couldn’t tell if it was because he was crying, or what, so he just continued, “Anyway, I’m fine now. I have a good system for taking care of my kids. While Jonghyun’s in school, I work, and leave Taemin to a nanny, she takes pretty good care of him, his face lights up when she’s coming over.” Minho grinned, “Actually, he’s still with her now, I should probably get going.”

Kibum nodded, “Sorry, I’ll get going. Thanks again for helping me out.”

“It’s nothing really, anytime.” Minho smiled and waved as Kibum got out of the car and left quickly, hiding his face from Minho’s gaze.

Minho drove home in silence, that was the first time he had told someone his story. It felt surprisingly relieving, even if it was just to Kibum. His thoughts were a jumble of happiness and sadness as he remembered the terrible fights he had had with his ex, but ever since she left he had been feeling better every day. Having the kids around would keep him happy and he would forget the past a little bit more.

He arrived at home, and Taemin greeted him giggling, “Daddy!” He cheered, wrapping himself around Minho’s leg.

“Taeminnie!” He cried back, picking up his son and pulling him into his arms as they touched noses. Yeah, getting full custody of his kids had to be the best thing that came out of his relationship. He wouldn’t have traded that for the world.

  
Originally Posted 4 years ago


	4. Match-Makers

# 4

Minho grabbed Taemin’s hand as they followed Jonghyun through the bustling building. The walls were covered in posters designed by the kids themselves. It was parent step up night, an opportunity for the kids to show off their work to their parents.  


“This one is mine,” Jonghyun said proudly, stopping in front of a poorly drawn circle that was titled pluto.

Minho leaned in closer to get a closer look at the poster, “So what did you learn about pluto?” 

“It has a different orbit than all of the other planets, and it’s so cold there, we would die!” 

Minho laughed at Jonghyun’s bluntness and picked up Taemin as he straightened his back, “This is pretty good Jonghyun! Was this the surprise you were excited for me to see?”

Jonghyun looked up with a sparkle in his eye, nodding eagerly, “We’ve been working on them in class, and we were allowed to take them home, but I wanted to surprise you!”

“You’re so good little Jonggie,” he said, ruffling his son’s hair. Jonghyun laughed, but immediately stopped and pulled away.

“Fancy meeting you here, I could hear you laughing from the other side of the building.”

Minho turned around to meet eyes with Kibum. He dismissed Kibum’s rude comment with a smile, “Oh hey, did Onew and Jinki have to do a project too?”

Kibum smirked, “Of course they did. Every class had to do their own set of planets. Luckily Onew and Jinki got paired together, and created something much more impressive than this one.”

Why is Kibum being such an ass again? Minho thought. He furrowed his eyebrows in frustration, “Well that’s nice, all that matters is that my Jonghyun is proud of his work.”

Kibum looked at the simple poster and shrugged before he grabbed Minho’s wrist, “Come on, I’ll show you how much better theirs’ is.”

Minho let himself be whisked away, deeper into the building. They passed people, surprised to see the two men moving so briskly past. Taemin, who was still at Minho’s hip, giggled at his dad as he almost struggled to keep up. It wasn’t that Kibum was particularly fast, but Minho preferred to keep up appearances, especially in front of other parents.

They came upon a three-dimensional poster focused on Saturn with intricate features and delicately placed moons, all surrounding the center. “Look at that,” Kibum beamed proudly while Jinki and Onew stood talking with Jonghyun, not really caring about the poster itself.

Minho immediately knew what was going on. “You made this yourself, didn’t you?” He smirked.

Surprise flicked across Kibum’s face, but was soon replaced with shock and offense, “I can’t believe you would blame me for such a thing.”

Minho rolled his eyes, “Kibum, it’s so obvious. You’re such a terrible liar.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would I lie about that?” He crossed his arms and stuck up his nose.

Minho looked at him judgmentally, “That’s so wrong I can’t believe you did that.” Taemin squeezed Minho’s shirt sleeve, and Minho looked to his son, “You okay Taebaby?”

“I don’t like this, don’t yell,” he said at almost a whisper.

Minho’s eyes widened with worry, “oh no, we’re not fighting, it’s fine!”

Kibum crossed his arms, “it sure sounds like it.”

He looked away from Taemin to glare at Kibum before Jonghyun interrupted.

“Dad, can we go to dinner with their family?” Minho looked at Kibum and Kibum just shrugged back.

He looked down at Jonghyun with a smile, “Where do you want to go?”

“Pizza!” All three of them said in unison.

* * *

The six of them sat at a booth, waiting for the salad to arrive. Kibum seemed to be thrilled that he had convinced Minho to get a starter salad, little did he know Minho ordered the antipasto salad. Something about having pepperoni, ham, and cheese on a salad made it more enjoyable, and less like.. salad.

Onew, Jonghyun, and Jinki were involved in a conversation about how their math class had gone that day, or how something funny happened in science. Minho took this opportunity to poke fun at Kibum, who was only separated from him by Taemin in his booster seat.

“I can’t believe you would do that,” Minho chuckled to himself, cutting up a cucumber into smaller pieces for Taemin.

“You can’t believe I would do what?”

Minho shook his head, “Pull that shit. Did you want your kids to get an A that badly?”

“It had nothing to do with getting an A,” Kibum quickly defended.

Minho widened his eyes, feigning shock, “Kim Kibum! You admit it!”

* * *

He continued scolding Kibum for what he had done while the younger boys talked amongst themselves.

“Okay, does your dad talk about my dad as much as my dad talks about yours?” Jonghyun asked, seeing his dad and Key were fairly wrapped up in their conversation.

“He complains about him,” Jinki said bluntly, picking at the salad serving his dad wanted him to eat.

Onew looked almost offended, “Jinki! He does not complain!” Jinki laughed to himself, and Onew continued looking at Jonghyun directly, “Jonghyun, I’m pretty sure my dad is in love with yours.”

Jonghyun laughed, “What? You can’t be serious. I mean, my dad talks about your dad all the time, but I don’t think he’s- oh my god.” The boy looked like he had just had the biggest revelation of his life, “My dad, likes your dad, no, not likes, like likes.”

Jinki and Onew raised a suggestive eyebrow, “You know what this means right?”

“Um,” Jonghyun wasn’t exactly following along, “This means we know too much?”

They shook their heads, ‘Nope, this means we have to play matchmaker.”

“It’s the best because we get to hang out more,” JInki said, with Onew adding, “And this means that we might become brothers at some point.”

Jonghyun’s eyes lit up, “Oh my god this is perfect!”

* * *

Minho looked at Jonghyun angrily, “What did I tell you about saying that.”

A flash of red crossed over Jonghyun’s face, “Sorry dad.”

The pizza came soon after, and Kibum cautiously gave his son’s two each. “Kibum,” Minho shook his head as he saw the other cut his son’s off.

“What?” Kibum asked, happily eating his salad.

“They’re growing boys! A little pizza won’t hurt, and if they do gain weight, I’ll just run it off of them on the pitch.”

Kibum shrugged, “I don’t want them to overeat.”

Minho looked at Kibum sincerely, “Let them decide that for themselves. If you over control them, you don’t know what they’ll do when they’re free to do what they want.”

The table sat in awkward silence for a moment before Taemin pulled them out of it.

“Daddy! One of your spicy things got on my pizza!” He looked up at Minho with watery eyes.

“Oh my poor baby, let’s get you to the bathroom so we can get you some water, and you are just covered in that pizza sauce.” Minho picked Taemin up and rested him on his hip as he left the table, telling Taemin what a mess he had become, trying to get his son to laugh.

* * *

When Minho got back, both Jinki and Onew had more slice of pizza on their plates. Minho smiled to himself as he sat down.

“Oh Taemin you look so much better now,” Kibum smiled brushing his hand through Taemin’s hair.

The four year old giggled, “Thanks Key.”

Kibum looked like his heart melted, “I love it when you call me Key Taeminnie!” He hugged the kid a little too tight, “You’re so cute!”

Minho looked at Kibum with disappointment, “Really?” He asked, “Please don’t kill my son.”

Kibum let go of Taemin and his face fell, “Sorry, I’ll go back to being serious and boring.”

Minho rolled his eyes, “Okay come on Kibum.”

Jonghyun poked Minho’s arm, “Can we go for ice cream after this?”

“Come on Jonghyun,” Minho said under his breath, “don’t push it, I was already planning on paying for this meal.”

His son looked confused, “But Kibum already paid.”

“What?” His eyes got big and he turned to look at Kibum.

The man just shrugged, “Sorry, but the bill came, and what was I supposed to do?”

“Not pay? Say we’re going to split it?” Minho sighed, he knew it was getting late for Taemin and he’d have to get home soon, but he wouldn’t just let this slide. “Who wants to go for ice cream?”

“Yes, but can we make it frozen yogurt?” Kibum asked, “It’s healthier anyway.”

Minho frowned, “Fine, but I pay.”

* * *

On their way home, Taemin was fast asleep in his car seat, his face was still covered in the chocolatey reminder of his dessert.

“So what happened when I left for the bathroom?” Minho asked, his voice low as not to wake up Taemin.

Jonghyun shrugged, “I don’t know, Their dad just gave Jinki and Onew more slices, and he asked if they were full, and they said yes, and that was it.”

Minho smiled to himself, “What a funny man.”  


  
Originally Posted 4 years ago with 88 notes  



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